Actuality

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About this Podcast

Actuality explores the inner workings of the new global economy, brought to you by Marketplace and Quartz, in a podcast that combines the best of our economic smarts. Hosted by Sabri Ben-Achour and Tim Fernholz, Actuality finds the interesting in the important and the important in the interesting—and defines the issues shaping our daily experience. In Season Two, we explore the impossible, with: they said it couldn’t be done. From creating a perfect algorithm to a perfect workforce, we’ll reveal the surprising answers to puzzles that once seemed impossible to solve. Join us for new episodes every other Thursday.

About this Podcast

Actuality explores the inner workings of the new global economy, brought to you by Marketplace and Quartz, in a podcast that combines the best of our economic smarts. Hosted by Sabri Ben-Achour and Tim Fernholz, Actuality finds the interesting in the important and the important in the interesting—and defines the issues shaping our daily experience. In Season Two, we explore the impossible, with: they said it couldn’t be done. From creating a perfect algorithm to a perfect workforce, we’ll reveal the surprising answers to puzzles that once seemed impossible to solve. Join us for new episodes every other Thursday.

They said it couldn't be done: The "male pill." Actuality asks why men haven't seen a new reversible contraceptive in centuries—and if we need one. We found out why Big Pharma gave up on a male pill, and meet people who want to make it happen anyway.

They said it couldn't be done: Soccer makes it in America. Actuality can't turn on the TV without seeing a soccer game — what gives? We talk with U.S. players Crystal Dunn and Matt Besler to figure out how global football became a media cash cow in America.

They said it couldn't be done: Ending the American war on marijuana. This week, Actuality tells the ugly truth about cannabis prohibition and peeks at the green shoots of the nascent legal weed industry — but can the architects of a new market avoid the mistakes of the past?

They said it couldn't be done: New art in old museums. Actuality visits an auction house to see a billion dollars of art sold in just a week and learn how this bubbling private market is changing staid public art museums in surprising ways.

They said it couldn't be done: Nuclear fusion. We visit scientists building a clean power plant that's hotter than the sun — but can they ever deliver? Then: the strange world of cold fusion, the people who hate it and the billionaires betting on it.

They said it couldn't be done: Making superheroes into movie stars. Forty years ago, Hollywood told 27-year-old Michael Uslan a Batman movie would never succeed. More than a dozen big-budget superhero movies will hit the big screen in the next few years. Holy impossibility, Batman!

They said it couldn't be done: Internet in space. The dream of a totally connected world is still out of reach. Companies like OneWeb and SpaceX think a global swarm of satellites is the answer. The idea failed before — does it stand a chance today?